Emergency Back-Up is Mission-Critical

Did You Know? In the world of business, where even a momentary flicker can cause significant economic loss, the cost of power outages in the U.S. can be astronomical:

• According to energy consultant E Source, eight key U.S. market segments suffer an estimated $27 billion in losses per year as the result of power outages. Among those, manufacturers tend to suffer the most from long outages, followed by financial service companies, healthcare, and grocery stores (as well as other businesses associated with perishable products).

• E Source reports that government entities are at risk as well. For example, the Department of Defense reported 127 outages of eight hours or longer in 2015 at a cost of $179,087 per day.

• According to a Ponemon Institute/Emerson Network Power report, healthcare organizations face average costs of $690,000 per outage and data centers average $740,357 per incident.

• Kohler Power confirms that some 87% of power outages are caused by severe weather and Climate Central confirms that weather-related power outages have doubled since 2003.

• The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that Hurricane Harvey (one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history) knocked out 10,000 MW of generating capacity and left hundreds of thousands of customers without electricity along Texas’ Gulf Coast.

Sadly, numerous experts – including those noted in a recent report by the Pew Charitable Trusts -- confirm that power outages are on the rise. According to the report, "data show that the U.S. experiences more electric outages than any other developed nation.” And with recent increases in the number and intensity of extreme weather events occurring nationwide, experts predict that outages will continue to grow in number unless the nation’s WWII-era electrical grid is modernized.

With power outages and their aftermath posing as rising concerns, lighting systems with emergency back-up capabilities have never been more critical (or mandatory) for the safety and security of people and property. Codes and standards set and/or tested by such regulatory organizations as OSHA, The National Electric Code (NEC), NFPA 101 (Life Safety Code), The International Fire Code (IFC), NFPA 1997 5-9.3, and Standard Fire Prevention Code 1999 require assurance that emergency and exit lighting systems provide illumination for at least 60-90 minutes to ensure a safe exit.

Litetronics has responded by continuing to ensure the compatibility of its LED Emergency Battery Backup with many of its newer products. Though the U.S. is facing a growing incidence of outages, there’s no need to ever get caught in the dark.